This Is Why ‘The Carmichael Show’ Was Canceled

Last month it was announced that Jerrod Carmichael’s NBC show The Carmichael Show was being cancelled. While NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt and president Jennifer Salke shared endearing words in regards to Carmichael himself and the show, there was no real explanation as to why they decided to call it quits.

However, earlier this week at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, NBC executives opened up about the decision to not bring back The Carmichael Show for a fourth season.

“I think the collective decision was maybe [that] it’s best to let the show end,” Salke told reporters. “I have to say personally for all of us, it’s a really hard decision that wasn’t just made on one side of things. It was one of those difficult decisions that kind of live with you for a while that you don’t feel great about because you wish it had done better. … This was the situation we found ourselves in.”

The show, which was one of NBC’s rare co-productions with an outside studio, 20th Century Television Fox, in addition to lukewarm rating ulimtaely accounted for the cancellation.

“We love the show. I mean, creatively we’ve been very involved in the show, involved with that cast and Jerrod [Carmichael] and everyone involved with it from the start. It’s been sort of this labor of love,” Salke said. “Everybody was hoping the show would really perform and grow. I think we saw a great kind of stable audience sort of slowly building and a lot of critical attention. … But at the same time, it remained in a challenging situation.”